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Sheikha

According to a report by Al Arabiya news, Oumaya Naji al-Jabara is the first woman in Iraq’s history to be granted the title of “Sheikha,” or tribal leader.

“Jabara is the first woman in Iraq’s history to be given this title. This is to honor her heroic role in fighting ISIS criminals,” said Marid Hasoun, head of the Iraqi Tribal Affairs Office, in a statement to the Al Sumaria news.

Jabara was reportedly killed on June 22, following a battle with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants in the western province of Salah al-Din.

A lawyer by profession, Jabara was also a women’s rights activist and a consultant for Salah al-Din’s Women and Social Affairs organization.

She took up arms soon after ISIS started infiltrating the al-Alam district east of the city of Tikrit.

The country’s higher council for human rights said “the sheikha was with her people, heroically resisting the dark forces of ISIS, pushing the militant group to react by bombing the city with mortars…”

Jabara, which literally translates to “mighty” in English, died as a result of a shot to the chest by an ISIS sniper.

Upon hearing of her death, Shiite prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki said “The name of the martyr Umayyah Naji Jabara has been added today to the chapter of Iraqi immortality.”